Harry's Call (from Lizzie)
by allboysshouldhavelonghair
Summary: Where Harry calls Will, and talks to Lizzie. A snippet taken from Chapter 38: "Hannah Montana and the UFO" in the world of Lizzie.


A/N - This is another snippet set in the world of 'Lizzie', during Chapter 38 - Hannah Montana and the UFO.

A reader, Ansujali, made a comment about wishing to hear the phone conversation between Will and Harry (Bingley) while Lizzie was staying with him.

Well, look, some ideas are just too deliciously tempting that there's no point fighting it.

So I present to you, Their Call... (With A Whole Lotta Backstory Included Just For Fun).

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><p>They threw themselves at him, the girls did, in his university years, when Daniel dragged him along to parties that he didn't really want to go to. He wanted to be in his family home in Melbourne, with Fiona and their dog, Theo. He was a shaggy mutt of a thing, but Fiona had begged their father for a pet and she was one hard bundle of cute to say no to. Their dad had taken them to a dog shelter, because '<em>if you can give someone a second chance, you should<em>." Even now, Will's father's words rang in his ears.

There were a few girls, drunk enough to ignore his awkwardness, who showed interest. They were different to the girls who knew he had money. The girls who knew he had money would hang onto his every word early in the evening, and then throw themselves at him when their inhibitions were sufficiently suppressed. The ones who _didn't_ know, wouldn't put up with his ineptitude until they were suitably inebriated to overcome their reasoning. He'd rather not take advantage of either but at least the unaware girls didn't want him for his money. Neither did they want him for him, but every month he was getting older and wondered if he'd ever get a chance to talk with a girl calmly enough for her to get to know him.

When Daniel started going to church, Will followed. It changed him, it changed them both. Daniel found his life's work in Africa and his parents disowned him. They literally wrote him out of their will and moved away to Spain.

At church, Will met a whole other set of girls. Well, that's what he thought at first. He soon found that they were not much different. Sure, they got drunk less, but they were fixated on marriage more. It seemed like their highest goal; the greatest gift a man could bestow on a woman was to ask her to marry him.

But Will never made a move, and very few girls kissed him during _that_ time.

Nothing changed for years, and he was beginning to meet the same women, just with different faces.

At 26, he'd given up. Resigned himself to a lifetime of solitude. He wasn't unhappy anyway, Fiona would still need him for many years and Harry was the closest thing he'd come to a best friend since Daniel had stayed in Africa. Life was… fine.

Then he met Lizzie.

She knew he had money, he could just tell. He'd had years of reading people's reactions to _that_. But she didn't seem to fawn over him and at times was annoyed by what he had to say. That was new.

She was blatantly uncool and didn't seem to care who knew. Her mouth spouted off smart comebacks and intelligent thoughts and as much as he tried, he just didn't seem to be able to look away. And boy, did he try.

She was not what he imagined he'd fall for. She was pretty enough, but her sister was much prettier. Her hair was kinda nice, he admitted, but it didn't matter since he'd always had a thing for redheads, which she was not. And she just didn't seem swayed by his opinion.

And even still, he couldn't look away.

So he'd given her the 'greatest gift a man could bestow on a woman'. Only, she hadn't wanted it. In reality, it hadn't just been a marriage proposal, it had been his heart. That quietly fragile, intact, still beating, still bleeding heart, and she'd crushed it with every smart comment and intelligent thought that had come out of her mouth that day.

He knew a lot more now. About life, about loving a woman. About pain.

But somehow, by the grace of God or whatever, she was here, and had spent the afternoon splashing water at him.

Will ruffled a towel through his hair. Grabbing a shirt from the hanger, he slung it on, buttoning up the front rapidly, missing some buttons, impatient to be near Lizzie again.

With a sigh and all the mental force he had, he lay his palms on his shorts and took a deep breath. He'd scared her away once before because he'd come on too strong. He would not make the same mistake again. He was a Darcy. He _would_ control himself.

On his bed, his mobile vibrated and the handsome face of Harry appeared on the screen. Will scooped up the phone, grateful for the distraction and swiped to talk.

"Hey bro!"

"Hello Harry, I'm sorry that I hadn't called you back yet."

Harry was the keeper of the friendship, they both knew that. If it were dependent on Will alone, Harry wouldn't hear from Will for months. But as friends, the two men just worked, complementing each other in ways neither of them had even begun to realize.

"No problem, we're talking now. Just a head's up, my sister is going to call you about that charity thing next week, she still thinks you're coming."

"I won't be in Melbourne then."

"I don't think that will stop her," Harry chuckled and Will followed suit.

"Unfortunately, neither do I."

"So, what's new with you?"

It was a subtle inquiry into Will's emotional state, something Harry had been even more prone to investigate after what had happened at Easter.

"…Can I tell you something?"

"Shoot."

"Elizabeth Bennet is here."

"In the Pilbara?"

"No… in my house."

Silence echoed for a moment.

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know," answered Will, pacing the length of his large bedroom. "I walked into my office last Friday and she was in the waiting room."

"Has she been there for a _week_?" Harry exclaimed as Will suddenly felt like the walls were closing in.

"She's staying here," he replied, opening the bedroom door too quickly and striding out. "Her relatives kept travelling and she's keeping Fi company."

"That's great!"

Will jogged down the stairs, two at a time. "Yeah, Fi is… blossoming."

"And how are things going between you and Lizzie?"

Will stopped short for a moment and thrust a hand through his hair.

"Things are going… well."

He picked up his long legs and bounded down the fairytale staircase.

"How is she going?"

"She's… well."

"What has she been doing this semester?"

Will smiled and said, "Would you like to talk to her yourself?"

"Oh, really? That would be fantastic!"

"Give me a moment, Harry, I need to find her first."

The line went silent as Will wandered through the corridors searching for his houseguest. Rounding into the lounge room, Lizzie Bennet was lying across his couch, eyes closed, her hair strewn into flyaway ringlets, too peaceful for words.

She took his breath away.

Friends, he told himself. Friends.

With a reluctant half-smile, he gently tossed the phone onto her stomach.

Her brown eyes squinted open and she mumbled, "What's this?"

The half-smile evolved into a real smile. "You'll see."

The woman was more adorable than he knew what to do with. Summoning every ounce of strength he had, he turned and left, finding himself in familiar territory in the kitchen. Pots and pans he could handle. Pots and pans would not fuddle his brain.

Even from the kitchen he heard her shout of joy. He wondered if one day she would be as excited to hear from him.

Friends, he told himself. Friends.


End file.
